By Bond Robertson 
The war in Ukraine has been going on for over a year and a half, and there is no sign that peace is on the way.
Britain’s defense minister, Ben Wallace, announced this week that he would not stand for re-election to parliament. In an interview with the British Times, he shared his thoughts on how the war should proceed.
Resignation: Ben Wallace is set to step down as Britain’s defense secretary. PHOTO: REUTERS/Caroline Xia/file photo/NTB
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He does not hide the fact that he believes that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, will not accept defeat.
– Putin will not deal with a loss in Ukraine, it will affect him, says Wallace.
– laughs at NATO
– will belong
The defense minister believes that Putin is ready to go to great lengths to avoid losing.
– It still has a strong air defense and naval defense. We’ve seen a very aggressive strategy at sea before, says Wallace.
Fighting is still fierce in Ukraine every day. Russia has occupied several regions of the country and Ukraine has been working hard on the counterattack since June.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malgar wrote on Telegram Sunday that Russian forces have attacked in the direction of Kubzhansk in the Kharkiv region for two days in a row.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Russian forces are resisting firmly and that the offensive to retake the regions is going slowly.
Wallace believes it will be a long time before Putin stops flexing his muscles.
– It’s not over with us yet. I think there’s a good chance it will run out at some point, in the next three or four years,” he told The Times.
Claims that they stopped assassination attempts
Does not exclude nuclear weapons
On the other hand, Wallace believes that the chances of Putin using nuclear weapons are low, although he does not exclude this.
– They set guidelines for the use of tactical nuclear weapons, and they are anathema to us all, says Wallace.
Britain is one of the countries that donated the largest amount of arms to Ukraine throughout the war. Wallace believes that other countries, especially NATO countries, should contribute more.
– You cannot take your allied partners for granted, you must contribute. If all NATO countries compare our donations to Ukraine as a percentage of GDP, an additional £20 billion would be saved.
As of May 2023, Great Britain has donated £4.6 billion to aid Ukraine, which is more than NOK 60 billion. The only country that has donated more than those countries is the USA, with more than NOK 380 billion.
Putin himself claims that Western donations have no say in the battlefield.